By Staff
EDUCATIONAL PLAY Jonathan Tillman and Kristen Roberts, both kindergartners at Southeast Elementary School, are shown in the Kenya "dramatic play" station, part of the school's Success For All program. Photo by Kelly Quackenbush/The Meridian Star
By Kelly Quackenbush/The Meridian Star
April 5, 2001
The Success For All (SFA) program at Southeast Elementary School has earned recognition as a national school model.
The designation as a Success For All Demonstration Site by the Success For All Foundation was presented during a demonstration site ceremony Wednesday. Anna Grehan, SFA program manager of the University of Memphis office, along with teachers, students, parents and other school administrators, attended the ceremony.
Implemented into Southeast Elementary's curriculum two years ago, the program has achieved much success in a short period of time.
Grehan presented the school a banner that reads, "Success For All Foundation Southeast Elementary School National Visitation Site." The program manager said the designation classifies Southeast as a "model school inside and out."
SFA demonstration sites are considered crucial to the building of the SFA program.
Kindergartners at the school have an all-day SFA program and first- through fourth-graders have an uninterrupted 90-minute block for SFA concentration.
In order to become a Success For All demonstration site, a school must have these components: be a model school, improvement of reading test scores, strong principal and facilitator support, strong family support team and the school has to have an exemplary early learning program.
Teachers and school administrators from Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas can visit the school to see the program in action to decide if their school can benefit from it.
The SFA program was made available by a federal grant and the Phil Hardin Foundation.
Kelly Quackenbush is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail her at kquackenbush@themeridianstar.com.